The Weight of Jade

We're all Uncertain

Nino decided that he was going to leave at 1:00 AM. No one was awake at that time, at least not a lot of people.

It was 12:55 as Nino paced in his room, heart thumping in his chest and his eyes screwed shut, knowing the length of his room by heart and always turning at exactly the right time.

"Nino?" Wayzz said quietly, floating in his bowl of water with a concerned frown. "You don't have to do this now, you're pushing yourself when you don't need to."

"I know," Nino answered quickly, stopping in his frantic walking to check the time again.

12:56.

"You have time," Wayzz reminded him gently, disliking how nervous Nino seemed to be. "We can do this later."

"The longer I wait the more unsure I'm going to get..." Nino said quietly, trying to take long even breaths. "I can do this I just... need to go for it."

Wayzz was quiet for a while more, another minute ticking by in silence as Nino tried to calm himself.

"I'm proud of you," Wayzz said earnestly, still looking concerned, "but are you really sure you don't want them there? They'd be there in a second if you called, they'll help you adjust."

Nino shook his head, taking off his hat and running his hand through his short hair. "If I fall off a building I'd rather not have an audience, even if they are my friends. If I get more adjusted I said I'd call them by 2:00."

There was a small space of silence before Wayzz flew from the bowl and hovered in front of Nino, water slowly dripping to the floor but no one commenting on it.

"Would you be more comfortable knowing what to expect?" Wayzz asked, tilting his head. "I've explained some basic things but I could go into more detail."

Nino turned and looked at the clock.

"Yeah... tell me on the way to the roof."

Wayzz was silent until Nino had successfully snuck past his father who had fallen asleep on guard duty and out the front door, only starting his explanation once they were well away from the apartment.

"You will have a shield, I'm sure you know," Wayzz began, "it's capable of many things. It can grow and shrink to your various needs but there is a limit to how large it will go, as well as how small. It will never shrink smaller than a dinner plate, and never grown larger than the face of a bus."

"Okay..." Nino said quietly to show he was listening, hating that he was deliberately taking the stairs a bit slower because he was afraid.

"Your communicator is not on the shield, but rather the miraculous itself. That will be easier to just mess with yourself."

"How does getting around work?"

Wayzz didn't reply, not completely sure how to explain. "We can practice on the rooftop before going anywhere else. I'll talk you through once we've transformed."

Nino felt a certain kind of electricity run over his skin at the word, the boy shutting his eyes again for a moment and reminding himself that he had been chosen. He could do it.

It didn't take them long to reach the roof, Wayzz whispering quiet words of encouragement the whole way up and only falling silent when Nino opened the door and stepped out onto the gravel.

This rooftop had held some surprisingly important moments in Nino's life...

He really never thought one of them would be something like this.

Nino took a deep breath, his hands shaking in tightly balled fists as he reminded himself of what he had spent the last five hours doing. You've got to step up man... you've got to step up. Stop being a coward and just... say it.